>> it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, where passengers arriving on flights into the united states face much tougher security measures. all travelers from 14 countries deemed a security risk can expect full body searches. this is one week after a failed attempt to blow up an american airliner. >> the extra security measures are targeted and highly visible.

all passengers that fly from countries considered to pose a threat to the u.s. will be given full body pat downs, and ham luggage will be searched. four of those countries are on the list of sponsors of terrorism. three others are deemed to be of interest. they include cuba, nigeria, sudan, yemen, iran, syria, and pakistan. the white house has come under intense pressure to improve airport security in the wake of the failed bomb plot on christmas day. >> it is not that the system is broken, but there are ways to improve the system to make sure we can put together the various pieces of information in a way that allows us to stop every terrorist. >> the nigerian national boarded a plane bound for detroit. the explosives were allegedly sown into his underwear. they went undetected. there's no guarantee the new

measures would be more affective. some experts say the rules need to be tighter. >> you may see a different thresholds for what makes you a select the or a no-fly. >> the u.k. has also stepped up security. controversial body scanners will be introduced at airports as soon as it is practical. each machine cost around 100,000 pounds. both countries have closed their embassies in yemen, where the suspect is thought to be recruited. britain and the u.s. say they are continuing to work with the yemenese government to combat terrorism. >> joining me from manchesr with what this all means is an

aviation analyst, chris g yates. >> body scanning serves a purpose, but not necessarily enough. the process of security has to be a system of symptomsystem we're talking about technique and technology. we need to be looking at enhanced profiling of people destined for those high-risk flights. yes, we need to set up the technological approach as well. body scanning answers one issue, but we need to address the liquids issue as well. we have no capability in the area. >> and this man was carrying this. >> that's right. there is nothing t stop him. not the metal detector or the x- ray device.

body scanning will not necessarily have identified that the excellent. the new generation of liquid detection systems is available now, but it is awaiting approval. it is ready to go within weeks provided the government to prove that unilaterally. >> this procedure -- would we walk through a metal detector? sometimes, people are randomly searched. is that no longer close to be enough? >> it serves a purpose, but we need to talk about a system of systems. the technique and the technology. we need to enhance the technology. the metal detectors for many years ago to address the threat of guns on plants. x-ray came in to identify things

that might be concealed in our hand baggage. now there are items carried on the person. we need to be able to detect those items, and detect them accurately. >> thank you for updating us. you can find out if your travel plans might be affected by the new measures by going to our web site, bbc.com/news. you will find details of all the flights that are subject to these new searches. united states has lifted a 22- year ban preventing anyone with hiv or aids from entering the country. the restrictions were introduced in the 1980's at the height of the fears. president obama says the measures are not compatible with america's ambitions of becoming a world leader in the fight against the disease. france has become the latest country to close its embassy in yemen, citing security issues. the u.s. and britain have kept

their embassies closed for a second day over what officials call threats from al-qaeda. the security forces in yemen say they have killed two suspected al-qaeda members, and wounded three others. diesel oil from a broken pipeline has reached one of china's most important water sources. according state media reports, water quality monitors have found traces of the oil, despite efforts by more than 700 workers to contain the spill further upstream. authorities have advised over 800,000 people not to drink the water. heavy snow has brought beijing to a standstill. stores have been close. residents have been ordered to clear icy roads. paralyzing traffic also forcing airports to cancel flights.

billions of dollars of foreign aid have been sent to afghanistan since the war started in 2001. and despite that, life for many afghans is only getting harder. and afghan economist has warned that poorly managed aid is damaging support for the government. malnutrition among children is among the highest and tin the w. >> after eight years of foreign help, billions of dollars in aid and countless consultants, afghanistan has come to this. a hospital ward filled with severely malnourished children. >> the doctor knows this personally. he has been watching more and more cases of malnutrition arrive here every day.

>> he is five-years old. he and his 14-year-old sister have been in a hospital for the past week. their parents simply cannot feed their family of seven. the malnutrition problem in afghanistan, and especially in this province, is very bad, he says. that is because of the years of fighting, the damage to infrastructure, and rising unemployment. it does help to make things worse each day. >> the statistics bear him out free each year, two hundred thousand children die of preventable causes. chronic malnutrition is 54%. afghanistan is one of the few countries in of world to slip backwards in terms of human development. it is now the world's second worse. that is not for want of money paid economists say it is because it has been badly spent.

>> until now, the policy has always been to direct aid into parts of the country where the insurgency is strongest. that means billions of dollars of development into areas along the southern frontier with pakistan, leaving districts feeling sorely neglected. the sentiment here is growing. >> economists say is an attempt to bribe enemies and forget the france. -- forget friends. >> we needed to spend money in the places where people believe in the new democracy. instead, only the enemies are getting rich. >> he came back from a refugee camp in iran, believing in the country's future. his daughter only recently left the hospital, also suffering from malnutrition. he said she is getting better, but he still cannot afford food for all the family. >> instead of a going to those

like me who need it, it goes too rich, corrupt people. i'm very angry at the government. >> now they have a new baby, one more mouths to feed. the more afghanistan children suffer, the more support for the government's lipscomb of the more its gross for the insurgency. -- the more it grows for the insurgency. >> property has been a dirty word in dubai over the last couple of months. today, the biggest property of them all, the world's tallest building. it stands at over eight hundred meters and has taken six years to build treated easily smashes the previous world record. it is more the type as the iconic empire state building in new york. let's talk to our reporter, ben

thomson. it is quite an injured during feet. >> yes, this is what we are talking about. all eight hundred meters will give the official figure tonight. they're not releasing the final figure until the inauguration this evening. take a look at that. 26,000 windows on the exterior of the building. if you want to get up to watch the windows -- it took them just six years to get up from the ground all the way up there. at one time, there were more than 12,000 workers here. you can see just how quickly this building has gone up. they say floors are going up at a rate of a couple of floors every couple of days. this is a sort of development we see here. tonight will be all about the big fireworks and a light show. it will be an attempt to put dubai back on the map for all the right reasons, instead of the headlines we have seen.

>> as the fireworks go off, it will be hard to ignore the headlines of the last few months. property prices are hard. >> absolutely. it's fair to say that the celebrations wil be overshadowed to a certain extent by the debt crisis. just one month ago we were reporting about the sort of problems that the dubai was in treated did have a lifeline from its neighbor, of a dhabi. by no means is it over yet. there's debt due during the course of this year. the first one of those will come due in march. we are likely to see a celebration this evening. many people are hopinghey will draw a line under the worst of the financial crisis. by no means is this over yet. >> thank you for joining us. >> $20 billion. they expect the actual building

will not be profitable. it is the development around it. >> they are money hotel. >> the hotels, and more residential apartments is where they're hoping to make the money. >> you have some news on china. factory help with is very good. >> it does seem like the chinese factories the sped up to full speed. this is all on a boardbulging order books. this is the fastest rate on record. this is a sign that all the economic measures that the government has been throwing at the economy have worked their way through the pipeline, and have come to fruition. there's a big concern going forward that the economy may overheat. that is an inflation worry. last year it was deflation. in 2010, it could be inflation.

>> stay with us. coming up -- zuma prepares to marry his third wife. we find t how south africans feel about polygamous marriage. and how love and on is experiencing a fashion renaissance. >> bbc has obtained evidence that computer software may have caused the loss of a helicopter and southwestern scotland in 1994. the aircraft -- it found the pilots guilty of gross negligence. >> june 1994, a helicopter crashed. all 29 people on board were killed. it was determined that the helicopter was serviceable and

there were the. they found the pilots guilty of gross negligence. now an internal document proves there were no serious concerns and warnings over the engine control computer software. it describes it as positively dangerous, the density of deficiencies is so high that the software is unintelligible. the pilot's control of the engines cannot be assured. this evidence was not included in the original inquiry. at the time of the crash, the test pilot was ordered to stop helping with the air accident investigation. >> i was told to stop and not talk about the accident to anyone. officially or unofficially. the families believe the aircraft was rushed into service with the known problems and the

pilots were blamed to save face. >> there's too much evidence against it. there to make people who know the truth. they cannot do away with this. >> it crashed in poor visibility and since this tragic incident, the pilots had a safe history. the latest information cannot be passed as new evidence, it says. >> this is bbc "world news" today. new security measures today for all passengers flying into the united states. dubai is preparing to inaugurate the tallest skyscraper, hoping it will shift attention away from the financial crisis. the top end of the fashion industry has been one of the high-profile casualty is of the

global downturn. designers have turned to producing more profitable, ready-to-wear clothing. there's one place world where high-fashion is experiencing a renaissance. from beirut -- >> one by one, the lebanese designers are conquering the catwalks across europe. fashion has suffered from the global downturn, but it has been a year of reversbirth for leaveb anon. >> he and his colleagues have had no shortage of work. >> $16,500. yes. it is nothing? >> well, maybe a little expensive.

how many dresses do you sell every month? >> no, every season. between two hundred to 250. >> most of his clients come from the oil-rich gulf, but this is what drives profits for the lebanese designers. weddings are huge steel across the middle east. people spare no expense for the big day, even if they have to borrow. some of these dresses sell for as much as $100,000. this year, wedding parties in lebanon have been especially lavish. >> the lebanese have always known how to dress to impress. today there is a real sense of revival here. stores like this one are everywhere in beirut. one reason behind that is because levin on is living through a rare period of

political calm. peace brings opportunity. she is now trying to set yourself up in beirut. >> you just walk around and you are inspired. 's a very creative place to be in. at some point, i want to relate my own country. i want to be able to give to it ke it has given me in terms of creativity. >> competition is fierce. she says even finding a location is a real challenge. it's also a sign that the route has regained its status as the capital of fashion in the middle east. >> the science-fiction " avatar"has become the fastest to reach $1 billion in ticket sales around world.

is now the fourth biggest grossing movie of all time. >> a ground-breaking epic, a film that combines. it's a story of a paralyzed war veteran. he is sent on a mission to a distant moon called pandora, where he falls in love to the blue alien. the futuristic movie is in three 3d. it is being talked about as a potential contender for best picture at the oscars. for james cameron, it is his second money spending blockbuster. "titanic" is the biggest grossing movie of all time. the billion dollarerformance by "avatar" is partly down to the high cost of tickets for 3d vies. with hollywood entering its

traditionally slow season, the alien adventure is likely to dominate the box office for several more weeks. >> an update on the nfl. >> baltimore and the new york jets seized the last two playoff spots in the nfl. that means the reigning super bowl champions, of pittsburgh, are out, despite beating miami on the final day of the regular- season. minnesota had a convincing win over the new york giants. the dallas cowboys took the eastern thomas title as they swept past philadelphia 24-0. >> over 100,000 fans made it to the cowboys stadium for this one. the winner would secure them the nfc east title. in the end, the cowboys got the victory, 24-0.

the pick of the cowboys cut stones was a 49-year run by zones in the third quarter. the team will have the psychological edge next week. jets clinched the win with a 37- 0 victory over the cincinnati bengals. brad smith did much of the damage for the jets. people up the first touchdown. smith did get the run in the second quarter. a great 32-yeaard run. the final touchdown was scored by jones, his second of the game. next week, the two sides will meet in the first round of the playoffs. >> that's it for me for now. >> ukraine has been torn apart

in the past five presidential elections. a few weeks, the latest could produce more splits. the country has had a turbulent relationship with moscow. the future of relations with russia will be a major election issue. >> the wine cellars are relics of an age where these czar -- dating back to the 19th century, when russia created the wine industry. the same family has been involved with the winery since those days. >> one of my friends said that if there is no border in your heart, there's no border. russia is still the biggest. >> russia is insisting it has historic rights and interests here.

this is still the home port of the black sea fleet. these were the ships that russia deployed during its free fall with georgia. for russia, keeping the fleet here is a matter of national honor. it keeps warning ukraine not to defy it. >> russia behaves with ukraine like a divorced husband with his former wife treaty cannot understand how she was able to leave him. so he had stickies and takes all the food from the refrigerator. he switches off the electricity once in a while. >> relations with russia this generated when the president was elected during the orange resolution tree in this campaign, the president sounded weary and is giving little chance of winning. there's still a political consensus that ukraine needs to grow out of russia's shadow. >> we cannot afford to continue to lead within the gray zone of

the security. we do believe, and the majority of ukraine, far more than 60%, is in favor of ukraine moving decisively toward the european union. >> to get all your headlines, on line with our news summary at bbc.com/news. 910 people are not aware of the risk of carrying extra fat around their waist lines. this is a survey of 12,000 europeans. you can find out all about this on the web site. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> i'm julia stiles. >> i'm kevin bacon. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken burns. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis gates, jr., and public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for election coverage you can count on. >> for conversations beyond the sound bites. >> a commitment to journalism. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> i'm kerry washington, and public broadcasting is my source for inteigent connections to my community. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, l angeles.